Veteran sportswriter Richard Deitsch looks at the Olympics from an international perspective.

As is often the case at the Olympics, the final skater was chosen in the end. Ami Nakai from Japan. Alisa Liu from America. The world truly belongs to young people. 17-year-olds and 20-year-olds compete for sporting immortality.

NBC figure skating analyst Tara Lipinski said of Nakai, “If she skates this free skate cleanly, she’ll probably become an Olympic champion.”

That was close. Always close to this level. Nakai was great. Ryu was from another world. The American skated with immense joy, jumping with athleticism and freedom that captivated the crowd. Liu scored a season-best 150.20 points and moved into first place with a personal best total of 226.79 points.

It was the completion of a remarkable journey for Liu, who became the youngest U.S. champion in history at age 13, then retired at 16 and returned to win the world championship at 19.

When Nakai scored, she reached the board in bronze position. Elegant World Champion Kaori Sakamoto, who announced her retirement before the tournament, came in second place. I would also like to give a shout out to American Amber Glenn, who received 0 points in her short program due to an invalid element. It was a disaster, leaving the world’s highest-rated American figure skater in 13th place after the short program. But Glenn was great in the free skate. Her performance on Thursday included an impressive triple axel, earning her 147.52 points and finishing with a total of 214.91 points. This put her in the lead until the final four skaters. She finished in fifth place.

However, Ryu leaves as one of the tournament’s biggest stars. She becomes the first American woman to win a gold medal in women’s figure skating since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

“I can’t handle this,” Liu said after the win. “That can’t be helped.”

Oh, it’s true. A star is born in Milan.

Who will be starring on Friday?

The final Saturday is traditionally the day of the big medal event (12 this year), but don’t sleep on Friday. The women’s 1,500-meter speed skating final (10:30 a.m. ET) will feature an incredible story unfolding across the track. Japan’s Miho Takagi, who won 10 Olympic medals, is second only to Dutch legend Irene Wust, who has won the most medals in speed skating history. She has won silver twice in this race (both behind Wust) and is the favorite to win.

Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida has already reached national hero status with gold medals in the 3,000m and 5,000m. Femke Kok of the Netherlands won gold in the 500m and silver in the 1,000m. American Brittany Bowe has won two Olympic bronze medals, but she is already the winner of these Olympics as she announced her engagement to her hockey player partner, gold medalist Hilary Knight. Takagi will skate in the final pair with Czech Republic’s Nikola Zdravlova.

Team USA’s Alex Ferreira and New Zealand’s Finley Melville-Ives are favorites to win the men’s freestyle ski halfpipe (1:30 p.m. ET) following the retirement of defending Olympic champion Nico Porteous. Ferreira won bronze in this event in Beijing four years ago and silver in Pyeongchang in 2018.

One of the most interesting names at the event is Gus Kenworthy of Great Britain, who is returning from retirement to compete in his fourth Winter Olympics. Kenworthy won a silver medal in slopestyle at the Sochi Olympics.

The women’s short track 1,500 meters was Italy’s Ariana Fontana’s last Olympic race, and with her three medals at the Games, she increased her total Olympic medal count to 14, making her the most decorated Olympian in Italian history across the Winter and Summer Games. The quarterfinals begin at 2:15 p.m. ET, with Fontana expected to place sixth in the quarterfinals.

Contenders for women’s ski cross include defending Olympic champion Sandra Neslund of Sweden, Beijing bronze medalist Fannie Smith of Switzerland and Giole Gairi of Italy. The final round is scheduled for 7:10 a.m. ET.

olympic images

Numbers you need to know

17- According to Sports Business Journal, the world’s largest bobsled, skeleton and luge sliding tracks.

14- Italian short track skater Ariana Fontana has tied for the second-highest number of Olympic medals among Winter Olympians, alongside Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Björndalen. Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Björgen is the most decorated Winter Olympian with 15 medals.

12 – Japan won the most bronze medals among the participating countries.

2:59.77 – The winning time of Marianne Fatton of Switzerland in the first-ever ski mountaineering sprint final.

3- Number of times the Olympic women’s hockey final went to overtime (or more) between Canada and the United States. At the 2014 Sochi Games, Canada won 3-2 in overtime. In 2018, Team USA won on penalties, and on Thursday, Team USA won 2-1 in overtime.

2- Spain won medals in these events, with Oriol Cardona Coll taking gold in the men’s ski mountaineering sprint final and Ana Alonso Rodríguez taking bronze in the women’s event. Spain’s only previous gold medal at the Winter Olympics was won by alpine skier Francisco Fernández Ochoa in Sapporo in 1972.

1 – Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) wins a medal at the Milan-Cortina Games. Russian ski mountaineer Nikita Filippov, competing under the AIN banner, finished second behind Spain’s Cardona Col.

what we read on the web

► Tenley Albright and Carol Heiss relive their Olympic skating victory 70 years ago in Cortina. By Dave Skretta, Associated Press

► What is Skimo? The newest Olympic sport has a long history in Europe. Written by Anna Fioretino, Smithsonian Magazine.

► Oksana Baiul, Nancy Kerrigan and Lu Chen revisit iconic photos from the 1994 game; From the New York Times

► With slalom gold, Mikaela Shiffrin rewrites her story and finds freedom Written by Tim Layden of NBC Sports

► Coronavirus, carnage and recovery: Why one athlete’s extraordinary journey to the Olympics took 16 years. FCNN’s Don Liddell

► How New Zealand set an Olympic snowboarding record and became a snow powerhouse. By Eddie Pels, Associated Press

► Alisa Liu becomes the first American woman to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal in 24 years. By Marcus Thompson of The Athletic.